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SPECIAL POST
The failure of the Senate to pass legislation stopping earmarks, and the fact that several Republicans voted against the proposal, is prima facie evidence that the bastards have not learned their lesson. I’m sorry to put it that way, but that’s just how I feel.
I don’t think we’re going to get rid of the damned Health Care Plan and we’re going to end up with higher taxes while the sons-of-bitches keep right on spending. It seems that things are adding up that way.
It’s looking more and more as if we’ll have to have a million-citizen march on Washington to get in their faces.
That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, angrily submitted.
George W. Bush has been out and about, touting his new book that is supposed to give insight as to what a President faces and the decisions that he makes. I am not going to take issue with or discuss the merits of that book, but I do have a problem with something he said on the O’Reilly “Factor” show on Fox. The essence of his remark was that he has no intention of involving himself with the business of the country any longer because he has done… completed his service to his country.
Maybe that is what, in my mind, will be the principle reason why he will never be considered to be a great President and may well eventually end up in the lower one-third of his class. In going where I’m going, I am in no way subscribing to the Al Gore or John Kerry theories about how to run the country. Putting Bush up against either of these jerks would still be a “no brainer” for me; I’d vote against Gore or Kerry, but not necessarily for Bush.
Understand that both sides of my family go back to the 1600’s as far as being residents of this continent. So, my issue is naturally this: Just when does your duty to our country end? Is it after you serve in the military? Is it after you retire as a civil servant? Is it after you serve eight years as President? Or, is it after your patriotic fanny lands in a cemetery?
I recently read a pro/con opinion in the November 2010 issue of U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT. The gist of the question posed was whether or not Americans should serve their country in some manner. The arguments were along the lines of yes, and it should be required versus yes, and it should be voluntary.
Well, is this your country or not? How far are you willing to go to defend your country and your way of life? Should defending your country be mandatory, or should you be able to skate, (let somebody else do the heavy lifting so you can reap the benefits)?
I am flatly amazed at the number of military personnel who lose limbs, eyesight, hearing and so forth, who want so desperately to continue on in the service of their country. When you talk to a Viet Nam vet, one of those gray-haired old geezers who got so badly mistreated by our country for doing their job, every one of them to the last man will tell you that they will not hesitate to stand up and fight for their country today or tomorrow. Some are crippled, old, feeble…. Yet willing to fill in for an able-bodied man or woman in a desk job so that person can in turn go fight.
Countless Americans have dedicated their lives to the betterment of their country and I’m not just talking about paid civil servants. People have served on community advisory boards, they have served in lower-level elected or appointed positions, they have volunteered with different agencies or organizations and they have given, given and given to support America and its citizens.
Given my heritage, I don’t know how any man or woman can say that they have given enough to their country. Bush is a young man and still can give plenty to his country. If the enemy came knocking at his doorstep, how far would he get by saying that he was retired from being an American; he’s done his job? He’s contributed all he needs to contribute?
Somehow, this attitude implies to me that our duty to country has prescribed limits beyond which we do not need to venture. Well, I’m sorry, but I simply must disagree. Our duty to country begins the day we are born and it doesn’t end until the grim reaper wins the day. The failure of a large portion of our country to recognize this fact and to abide by its rule is the very reason we are in the trouble we are in today. Had we been vigilant as Americans, had we always been willing to stand up for what is right and to condemn what is wrong, we would not be in the moral, ethical and economical quagmire in which we find ourselves today.
We need to gather our strengths and seek out the compass of continuous and passionate service to country so that we can, indeed, take it back. We must not rest or retire from our obligation to ourselves and our children to always, every minute of every day, be American.
Sorry, George. You’re a cop-out.
That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
SPECIAL POST
Where do I start? Do I dwell on the pervert TSA agents who are getting paid to grope, fondle and feel-up the traveling public and who are going to be unionized at the behest of the President so we’ll have a hard time firing them? Do I talk about the Bush tax cuts or the immigration problem? I could spend two posts talking about the continued arrogance of the “political elite” in Washington who have yet to come to grips with the fact that we Americans don’t like them.
Maybe that last sentence gives me a lead into what I really want to discuss. The plain fact is that Congress has declared itself to be above and beyond the law and ethics and they have not changed their ways. To start off with, the Democrats elected Pelosi to lead their House members again, thereby totally endorsing every damned thing she did to us in the last two years, from health care to stimulus and everything in between. This was a big vote and she had a substantial number of new Democrats voting for her, Democrats who lied to their constituents when running in 2010 by distancing themselves from her and the unpopular legislations she championed.
Shame on them. Out they go in 2012. Keep track of their names.
The real story about the House of Representatives is the Charlie Rangel story. This guy falsified his income tax returns. He used political power for his own personal gain and benefit. He lied under oath. Not only did he do these things, but he did them over and over again. He thumbed his nose at the system in place to deal with people like him. His peers found him guilty and then didn’t even give him a slap on the wrist. Good God, Wesley Snipes just got three years in the can for his tax problems! How can you justify sending Wesley to the can and letting Charlie off?
In doing so, his peers told Americans like you and me that we deserve to go to jail for the things Rangel did, but Rangel gets off because he is a Member of Congress and a friend of Pelosi. And, their actions flaunted the law that they swear to uphold when they take office. In short, our government has evolved into a dictatorial body that considers itself to be immune from any prosecution. Certainly, they have just proven themselves to be unwilling to accept an overwhelming public order issued on November 2nd to cut this crap out.
I’m beginning to think that we are going to have to make every single member of Congress subject to recall by the voters. It’s not a good or effective way to run a government, but how else are we going to hold these people accountable for their actions? One thing is certain: 2010 did not get the job done. We made substantial progress, but we are going to have to repeat ourselves in 2012. At least we are all awakened now to what we are facing in Washington and we have two years to study the situation and size up who we are going to get rid of in 2012 well ahead of the game.
In closing, let me say this about Murkowski. She won her seat with less than a majority vote in the state. Yes, she beat Miller, but she did not have 50.1% of the vote; she had somewhere in the 38% range, which means that 62% of the Alaskans did not vote for her or voted against her. How can she possibly justify running around telling people how much the Alaskans really need and support her?
Something has to change. Things in our American political system are not right.
That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
SPECIAL POST
It was negotiated and all but signed, sealed and delivered before Obama even got onto Air Force One; a huge trade deal with South Korea that would create some 90,000 jobs in the United States was to be a major accomplishment of Obama's recent trip abroad. Unfortunately, he came back empty handed.
How can that be? What happened?
I have said many times before that Obama is extremely self-centered and very, very arrogant. As it turns out, the negotiations have been going on for years and it was a delicate dance to the end. When South Korea finally agreed to the treaty's terms, that was indeed a major breakthrough.
But, while flying to Asia, Obama decided that he wanted more. In fact, he decided that he wanted specific terms to protect American union workers written into the treaty. And, as I understand it, he tried to sneak the language in without so much as a tidbit of discussion before the deal was to be signed. When the South Koreans discovered this attempt, they were rightfully furious. Obama tried to give it a shrug and a bow, but he almost had to back himself onto Air Force One and get the hell out of town before he got a real shellacking.
My God, doesn't he have class? Such charisma! (I don't know for certain, but I hear that even Hugo Chavez has asked for his book back.....)
That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
Let me start off by saying that I have a difficult time watching an uncontrolled Congress eat away at my income and my lifestyle every day while they spend, spend and spend. The fact that they are discussing raising the retirement age, increasing contributions and curtailing cost of living adjustments is an open and shut admission that they feel they have the unchallenged right to spend my every last dime. Mind you, they day will come when we can no longer work enough hours in the day to support their lavish spending habits and we will then all become puppets of the state.
The conversation inevitable turns to the shabby shape that Social Security is in and the need to either get rid of it or to modify it drastically. To me, that is simply more political rhetoric designed to get around the issue at our expense. Social Security can be fixed easily and simply. Here’s how:
- The government pays back to Social Security every last nickel it has borrowed or stolen over the decades; in the future, no one can latch on to those funds.
- A commission is named to head the Social Security Program consisting of three members of the Senate and three from the House, of which at least two of the six must be Republican and two Democrat. In addition, the commission includes the head of Social Security and six members of the public who do not hold any government positions. They choose their own chairperson from among themselves. Terms are three year terms.
- No one who is drawing Social Security today has any changes whatsoever to their benefits or adjustments.
- The commission oversees the operations and policy-making of the department and makes legislative recommendations to the Congress. The commission may invest any excess funds on hand in high-end stocks, bonds and funds in which various government agencies are now allowed to invest.
- Individuals are allowed to withdraw earned benefits prior to retirement and invest them in IRA’s or similar retirement schemes providing they cannot have access to the funds until they retire.
- Ten percent of all money legislated for pork or earmarks will be paid into the social security fund until it is fully solvent.
Now, #1 and #6 will surely doom this idea from the get go because there’s not one single member of Congress with the family jewels to comply. And, of course, Congress will never put itself into a position where it cannot steal money from Social Security. If you think this is a joke, wait ten years and see what has happened to the federal funds that are supposed to be spent on the new Health Care programs.
That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
SPECIAL POST
Ben Bernanke has issued the orders to the Treasury to print hundreds of billions of additional American dollars. My God, we’re all going to be rich! I don’t know why no one has thought of this before!
Just think, you could be making two or three times as much money as you are today. Of course, those who are on a fixed income will still be making the same, but the rest of us lucky bastards could be making six…even seven…figure incomes in a very short period of time. Isn’t this just ducky? That $5,000 credit card balance can be covered in one paycheck! Hell, we can pay the $250,000 mortgage in a year! Yes, yes, yes!
To hell with the poor folks on fixed incomes, social security, welfare or extremely low incomes. Yeah, I feel sorry for them, but I’ll get mine! Yes, I want to buy that new Mercedes on the showroom floor. Huh? ONE MILLION DOLLARS?!!! YOU’VE GOT TO BE OUT OF YOUR TREE!
$5.00 for a loaf of bread? $5.00 for a beer? $5.00 for a glass of milk? $10.00 for a gallon of gas?
What if you are on the other side of this equation? Suppose you’re the mortgage holder who loaned you the $250,000 for your house and now that $250,000 is worth, in terms of current money, only $75,000? How much leniency is he going to give you if you miss a payment? For that matter, how much leniency is China going to give us if we miss a payment?
Obama says he wants to help the poor. There’s no help here for the poor; if you can manage to scrape by with $15,000 a year, how can you survive when your basic living expenses triple?
This sham is one great big lie, and it has to be stopped. People without money, as most of the country is today, are going to get screwed big time.
That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
America’s Tea Parties have come out of nowhere and in less than two years have become a strong and viable political force. Their influences over this last election were, to say the least, profound.
Now, what’s next? Will the Tea Parties wither up and die on the vine?
Frankly, I hope not. There were other political forces out there at play as well and they were somewhat more sinister and hell bent on having their ways, regardless of what the laws or the commands of ethics say. The unions, for example, were shameless in their bribes and outright coercion used to secure votes for their favorite candidates. When the dust settles, I will not be surprised if it is revealed that the remnants of ACORN were also at play.
There were substantial gains made. Unfortunately, the Tea Parties got too close to the Republicans in some parts of the country. In the days after the election, I already have to wonder if the Republicans have learned the real lessons of what this election was all about; only the coming days and weeks will tell that story. One thing is certain: Obama and his far-left-wing cohorts are not going to lie down and work with the Republicans; they may say so publicly, but watch what they actually do.
While significant progress was made in cleaning house, much remains to be done. It will really take another house cleaning in 2012 to have the full and desired effect. And, it is too early to see how the 2012 Presidential race is going to shape up. We could end up with two candidates equally unfit for the office, as has been the case for 22 years.
Could the Tea Parties coalesce into a genuine political party and field their own candidates in 2012? In recent decades, third parties have been totally unsuccessful in their bids to become viable political forces. This time, however, things are different. Voters see the differences between the Democrats and the Republicans as being very blurred, almost as if they are the same party. It should be remembered that, historically, the Republican Party and the Democrat party were in fact one and the same.
Should the Republicans once again fail, as they have so profoundly failed in recent years, then the real need for a new party emerges. The Tea Parties have made their mark as a political force, and they need to seriously consider whether or not they will now coalesce into a full-fledged political party. Frankly, I would welcome the move; we need to demonstrate to Congress that we are not just frustrated Americans who do not know what we are doing. We are well aware of what is going on and we want our own brand of "change."
That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
SPECIAL POST
Americans stood up yesterday and let Washington know that it is not happy. Incumbents got tossed out left and right.
Oh, there were some disappointments. Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer and Barney Frankfarter are three that come to mind. One could lament that the Republicans didn't take the Senate, but that is not what the race was all about. The race was about getting fresh faces in Washington, Republican or Democrat, shaking up the establishment and getting rid of the "culture" of corruption and greed that has been ruling the day for far too long.
Americans did that. Anyone in politics who doesn't get the message is in for a rude awakening. We, the people, are just beginning. 2012 is just around the corner. The sleeping giant is awake.
That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.
